SpaceX hopes Dragon V2 will be Nasa's ISS 'space taxi'

SpaceX has unveiled the cutting-edge Dragon V2
Vehicle that it hopes will beat off two competitors to be the
chosen craft to transport Nasa astronauts to and from the
International Space Station.

The capsule, which is conical in shape but is rounded at the top
rather than pointed, was revealed by SpaceX founder and CEO Elon
Musk in an event in California on Thursday. The spacecraft is
designed to be flown by a crew of seven in low-Earth orbit and can
return to Earth at around 25 times the speed of sound.

SpaceX

It has been in development for many years now and has four
retractable legs that can withstand temperatures as high as 5,000
degrees Fahrenheit thanks to a heat shield. Even if two of the
Dragon's four engines fail, it should be able to land reliably, and
as accurately as if were a helicopter. SpaceX has been doing lots
of tests recently on reusable rockets that can return to Earth as
easily as they take off. Musk believes firmly that the ability to
reuse vehicles will transform the affordability and availability of
space travel.

Nasa is currently on the hunt for 'space taxis' and the Dragon
V2 is one of three possible vehicles vying for the organisation's
approval. The V2 is modelled after the original SpaceX Dragon cargo
capsule, but also has the benefit of a pop-up hatch, oval windows,
life-support and emergency escape systems. The two other companies
competing with SpaceX are Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp, but
there's nothing to say that Nasa will award the contract to one of
the companies exclusively.

The Wall Street Journal reports Musk as saying that
to develop the full manned version of the craft would probably cost
around $1 billion, some of which would have to be supplied by Nasa.
If funding and development goes to plan, the first crewed mission
could easily take place as early as 2016.